Saskatchewan examining more options to reduce surgical wait times

The Saskatchewan government says it’s looking at options to further cut into the province’s surgical wait times, including sending patients to another jurisdiction for operations.

In a media release Monday, the government said as it attempts to achieve its goal of reducing wait times for hip and knee replacements, it will look at a temporary, out-of-province surgical initiative.

“A private surgical facility outside Saskatchewan would be contracted by the Saskatchewan Health Authority to perform publicly funded orthopedic surgeries,” the release said.

“This option would be offered to patients on a fully voluntary basis, who have waited the longest for their joint replacement procedures while work is ongoing to accelerate expansion plans in public and private facilities.”

The government said it’s also looking at expanding its relationship with private sector partners to handle some operations.

“A Request for Proposals (RFP) will be issued to build a stand-alone orthopedic surgery facility in Saskatchewan focused on increasing operating room and bed capacity for in-patient joint replacements, as well as a variety of day surgery procedures,” the release said, noting the RFP would be issued in August.

The government said the health system did 5,000 more surgeries during the first five months of 2022 than were done during the preceding five months in 2021 when services had been slowed due to COVID-19 and pressures on the system.

As well, the government said there was an increase of 2,500 surgeries done in the first five months of the year from the previous five months on patients who had already waited over six months.

The release said Saskatchewan hospitals performed 240 more joint replacements during the first five months of 2022 compared with the same period in 2019, the last year without pandemic-related service disruptions.

“This progress is a result of the hard work and dedication shown by our provincial surgical teams to serve patients and increase surgical volumes,” Health Minister Paul Merriman said in the release. “Their efforts have made a positive impact on quality of life for many Saskatchewan people and their families.”

The province’s goal is to do 7,000 more surgeries in 2022-23 than the highest-ever level in an effort to reduce the surgical backlog. To achieve that, the SHA is looking to increase capacity in Regina and Saskatoon as well as regional and smaller surgical centres that provide or support joint replacements.